


Any help you can get

by BlancheHermine



Category: Stargate Universe
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friendly banter, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, the magic of self-help books
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:00:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27267622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlancheHermine/pseuds/BlancheHermine
Summary: When Col. Young gets bored and desperate enough to read the last book on Destiny left on his list: a self help book. Will he find some hidden wisdom to help him mend his relationship with Rush ? Or is it just a load of bullsh*t ?
Relationships: Nicholas Rush/Everett Young
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	1. Act for the relationship you want

It had been a particularly dull week on Destiny. A continuous 7 days of FTL travel without so much as a mechanical malfunction.

The science team, led by Eli, had given up monitoring the CI room’s consoles on Day 4. For the last 3 days, they had started a friendly competition called the STEM Challenge whose winner would be off night shift for the rest of the month. So far Volker was leading followed closely by Park.

The military staff members had kept their usual shift rotation but were playing cards to pass the time. A few curious souls had chosen to go watch the STEM challenge. Some of them even became active audience members: James for instance was keeping score.

Rush had disappeared on Day 3 and was only seen either wandering the halls at ungodly hours or grabbing a power bar from Becker’s storage. 

Young had chosen to navigate between the different groups: participating in boot camp, playing a few hands of poker and dropping by to watch the science team bicker about score count. Unfortunately, these did not fill the full 10 hours of his shift and there was very little to supervise.

After finishing the last movie in the databank and playing an umpteenth game of chess with Brody - Young finds himself desperate enough to read the last book in Destiny's unofficial library left on his list: "Visualizing your Goals : Making your dreams a reality".

He never cared for self-help books. Being in a command position for the last 8 years within the SGC's structure ; he was the one whose duty was motivating others on a daily basis. He knew very well that there was more to team morale than some platitudes written by a celebrity life coach of whoever was their ghost writer. He couldn't stand the upbeat, slightly condescending tone of the prose. The punctuation was also atrocious.

Nevertheless, something on page 10 caught his attention: _With these simple principles, you can make any relationship a success ! A difficult colleague, an estranged friend or a withdrawn spouse: no interpersonal connection will be out of reach of your newfound power._

A difficult colleague huh ? That was the perfect understatement to describe Rush.

They had spent the last few months following an unspoken unsteady truce. Rush was sharing the minimal amount of information and following the chain of command. Young was staying out of his business, only calling on him when an emergency arose. So far, no major fights had broken out and no punches were thrown. It had been a relief for him but also the entire cohort. 

Deep down though, Young knew it was only a matter of time before their personalities came to a clash again. He hadn’t figured out a way to connect with his lead scientist. The possibility of a companionable cooperation or even friendship was out of the question.

So now that this ridiculous book was offering miraculous mantras to magically improve his relationships – he was ready to try and apply these new rules to Rush. He was not above taking any help he could get to make his and the life of the crew easier.

**Chapter 1: Act for the relationship you want**

The first principle in the relationship chapter was unbelievably simple and could be summed up as: Pretend to have the relationship you want to have. The author explained extensively how projecting trust and positivity in your interactions could only yield equally positive results. If Young were to follow the detailed imaginary scenarios described; he would plainly pretend that Rush was his favorite teammate and wait until it stuck. In other words: kill Doctor Nicholas Rush with kindness and camaraderie the way Daniel Jackson did with the entire SGC personnel. Pretty straightforward. 

So on Day 8 of the most tedious streak on Destiny, Young decided to do just that.

He first bumped into Rush in the corridor outside or the CI room. He looked, as always, purposeful. Taking long strides with his nose buried into one of his trademark tiny notebooks. Young adjusted his trajectory to meet Rush’s. For a second, he thought the man would simply crash into him since he wasn’t looking up. But with his sixth sense constantly scanning his perimeter for foreign objects, the scientist just stopped and lifted his chin to meet Young’s gaze. 

The colonel smiled and said: “Haven’t seen you around lately, everything good with you?”

Rush, taken aback, narrowed his eyes suspiciously and answered “Everything’s great. Please get out of my way”

Young, not the least bit surprised by his dismissive comeback, withheld an exasperated sigh. Instead he took a step sideways and closed the conversation with “Sure thing, See you later then. Don’t be a stranger !” 

He cringed after uttering the last word. This was certainly not pathetic.


	2. Small acts of kindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some rather sad attempts at starting a conversation with Rush, Young just goes to the next book chapter for guidance.

There were more cringe-worthy moments in the following days. Fortunately, Everett had gotten rid of his feelings of shame early in his adult life thanks to his military training. Nothing helped overcome humiliation like a drill sergeant exposing your every failure in front of your entire cohort repeatedly for months on end. After completing basic training, he almost never felt self-conscious again. 

His multiple failed attempts at treating Rush like one of his favorite human beings only triggered his competitive spirit. Everett Young always enjoyed a good challenge. 

Chapter 2 of the book was titled “Be a good listener”. Considering that as of now, it was impossible to engage Rush in a polite, friendly conversation, he would have to skip it. (Not that he couldn't get back to it later) He thought that Chapter 3 could be promising: “Attention to details”. 

This specific section focused mostly on trying to learn as much about the other person as possible. How they liked their beverages, what kind of clothes they wear, what genre of music do they listen to etc. With that newly acquired knowledge, the goal was to transition to Chapter 4 “Small acts of kindness”. In other words: If you learned in Chapter 3 that your new friend liked cappuccinos - why not bring them one next time you go on a coffee run? 

Unfortunately, Dr Nicholas Rush was a bit of a mystery to him. He knew he was an antagonistic ass that liked coffee, cigarettes and maths. He did not want to dwell on the more personal details (for instance that he was a widower and had fallen in love with Amanda Perry - touchy subjects) - they definitely wouldn’t help him at this stage of his endeavor. 

So, over the next few weeks, while continuing to apply Chapter 1’s principles he would also try to study his prickly lead scientist to uncover Who was Nick Rush ? 

He was secretly hoping to find a pack of cigarettes, that would easily buy him some goodwill with minimal effort. Nothing wrong with a good shortcut. He’ll inquire with the crew but he already suspected that if any cigarettes had been available on Destiny, they would have been smoked a long time ago. 

\----

It was late on a Saturday night and Rush was in the CI room, eyes fixed on one of the screens, slowly sliding between the different monitoring tools. The rest of the science team was nowhere around - the night shift had either been dismissed early or was taking a break. 

Young leaned on the door’s threshold - he wondered if he should say something. It had never been easy to talk to the scientist - he always seemed to say the wrong thing. At best he would get answered with disdainful silence, at worst he would trigger a full blown meltdown. Thanks to his recent laughable attempts at bonding, he felt slightly more confident in landing on the better end of the spectrum. 

“May I help you Colonel?” 

He had zoned out and Rush had caught him staring. 

“Just wondering if you needed anything. Looks lonely in here without the rest of the team”

For a split second, Rush narrowed his eyes in confusion. Young tried not to smile and before the other man could reply with an acid barb he added “I was about to get some tea before going to my quarters. Would you like me to bring you a cup?” 

Simple. Easy. Tea. Can’t go wrong with tea. 

“If it’s not too much trouble” 

Young could not believe his ears. He had expected a quick refusal and now he actually needed to go get tea. He did not want tea. It was late on Saturday night and what he really wanted was a bottle of Brody’s paint thinner. But tea he offered, so tea he must get. Next time, he’ll opt for the high risk high reward option and just ask Rush to go and get wasted. Alcohol was a great social lubricant and might just speed up this “making your dreams a reality” process. 

“Alright, let me go and get it” 

On his way to the mess, he gathered up his recently acquired internal database on Rush’s tea habits: scalding hot, lots of leaves, no sweetener. Just like his own. He brewed 2 cups of the stuff and carried them back to the CI room, avoiding spilling the burning liquid as best he could. He wished for a thermos. 

He put the cup on Rush’s console. The scientist did not lift his eyes from the screen but tapped his index and middle finger twice next to the cup in something Young interpreted as a thanks. He did not linger to observe Rush drinking his just-how-you-like-it tea or engage in idle chit chat. The man valued his peace and quiet so Young decided wisely to quit while he was ahead. 

He couldn’t help but feel slightly giddy.


	3. Be a good listener

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting between the leadership trio give Young the opportunity to follow the mantra of Chapter 2 "Be a good listener". Mostly it's just an excuse to tease Rush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My formatting is atrocious and the dialogue needs work. Forgive me if you can't easily make out who speaks when. Still trying to find the right tone and pace as well as maintain consistency between chapters.   
> Still having a lot of fun writing it though !

It was once again a difficult meeting with Camille and Rush. The topic was of course: long term strategy and resource allocation. Even after 3 years in stasis, it was still difficult for their makeshift leadership triangle to agree on anything. 

During their previous discussions, the power dynamics had been quite straightforward. Camille was still very much advocating for trying to bring the crew home and focusing scientific personnel’s research on solving the power discrepancy issue. Out of the 3 of them, she was the most informed on team feedback and feelings. She had her fingers constantly on the pulse of Destiny’s crew. It was only natural for her to advocate for what her people were asking of her. 

Rush was of course vehemently against it. He was instead advocating for Destiny to become a generation ship and to get the entire crew: civilian, military and scientists on board to create a fully functioning micro-society. He kept pushing Young and Camille to make training requests with Homeworld Command and the IOA. He had already calculated how many chemists, material engineers, mechanics, biologists, geologists and all other types of ists he needed to complete  a fully operational science team with broad ranging skills.  He had even made recommendations for the admin side: project managers, inter-disciplinary liaisons, therapists etc. 

Young had to give it to him: the guy had put some deep thought and planning into it. His vision was seductive and his demands realistic. He had taken the whole civilian personnel into account. Unsurprisingly he also completely left the military personnel out of his plan - relegated to fitness training and security matters. 

So Everett, despite his best efforts, had had to sit in the middle: managing Camille and Rush’s expectations and devising his own long term strategy for his soldiers. Being a middle child, he had always been excellent at compromise and not rocking the boat too much. Years of air force service and SGC command had only reinforced his abilities to erase his personal feelings and reach for the most balanced outcomes, weighing all options available and finding a middle ground. Probably why Rush found him slow and inadequate - the man never had to work with a team. An excellent soloist for all his endeavours - but not a people person. 

Today though, Col. Everett Young had decided to take a goddamn break from debating a very stale subject. For the last 2 hours, he opted to work on his listening skills (Chapter 2: Be a Good listener). 

Ever since he had tested Chapter 1 and 3’s principles and gotten a modicum of success, he found his new mental game more and more invigorating. He had been keeping a tally of his small victories with Rush and thought he wasn’t doing too bad considering the extent of their previous enmity. He also found Rush’s reaction (mostly confused squints) to his most pathetic attempts quite hilarious. 

“Well Nicholas, it happens to be how i feel about this. Everett, what do you think?” 

Even though Young has been quite absorbed in his inner monologue, he still kept track of the general direction of the conversation. 

“Listen Camille, we’re going around in circles. We haven’t made any progress on this topic in the last 4 sessions we discussed it. I know what you’re both advocating for and what the positions of Homeworld command and the IOA are on the matter. Everybody’s split and no-one wants to be the tie-breaker.” 

“Homeworld command and the IOA can’t tell us what to do anymore. They have no power over us” Rush retorted. 

Young repressed an exasperated sigh : “And who do you think will train your exobiologists and your aeronautical engineers Rush ? Do you have the educational resources to teach the civilian crew advanced STEM ?” 

“Half of the science team used to teach at prestigious universities. I think they could do a fine job at it if we offered them the opportunity” 

“Then get started then. Test and select the most adequate people for advanced education. I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking for permission. As you said, we don’t depend on Earth for ship based decisions. Only external resources require authorization. ” 

“What if some of these people are military ? I’m fairly certain you won’t let any of your soldiers pledge allegiance to the Dark Side” 

Young paused to look at Rush - who suddenly found the not-coffee table fascinating and displayed the most delightful blush. 

“I can’t believe you just said that” 

Camille couldn’t contain herself any longer and burst out in laughter. Young couldn’t help but join her. 

“I spend most of my time mentoring an over-excited 20 something man-child. What did you expect ?”

Camille wiped a tear and said “I will cherish this moment forever. I certainly wish we had a kino to record it for posterity.” Young cheerfully added: “It would have made a great birthday gift for Eli” 

“If you’re quite done with your childish teasing, I’m going to the mess” 

“Well why don’t we all have lunch together - I think we should finish this conversation - You both made excellent points about selecting the best candidates for advanced education. I want to start drawing a plan for implementation” 

“My last sentence was a statement, not an invitation” Rush mumbled 

Young got up and opened the door to his quarters “Well  **Nicholas** you wouldn’t deny us the pleasure of your company, would you ?” 

Camille tried to hide her smile behind her hand and looked at Everett - lifting her eyebrows playfully. 

Rush breathed out the longest sigh. 


	4. Mixing business with pleasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Destiny drops out of FTL breaking the 3 week streak of perfect monotony. The crew gets some fresh air and vitamin D. Rush and Young discuss botany.

After the extended slow spell, Destiny had finally dropped out of FTL with a viable planet in range. The crew was getting antsy - there was only so much to do on the alien ship to keep boredom at bay. A few more weeks in FTL with a steady regimen of 10hour shifts and protein sludge and Young would probably have witnessed the emergence of a fight club or a second mutiny. Relief was palpable amongst his close inner circle - Scott, James and Greer regained their alertness and edge. Even Camille seemed thrilled to have a break in the monotony of the last 3 weeks. With 30 hours on the clock, they quickly formed teams, established priorities for foraging based on their stock levels and left plenty of time for some R&R. Since there weren’t any minerals to mine or crucial elements to collect, their only goal was to get some food, medicinal plants and just enjoy the fresh air and vitamin D.

The kino footage showed that the gate was located in the middle of a Mountain range and the current season resembled Earth’s Autumn. They could discern some kind of meadow surrounded by tall trees similar to firs. Chloe said it reminded her of her favorite California National park and started enthusiastically recollecting a camping trip from her college years. Young overheard something about a bear and hallucinogenic drugs. He briefly wondered if Rush, as a Berkeley professor, had to deal with a lot of graduate students and their tales of weekend out-of-body experiences. 

Speaking of the devil, Rush had packed a small bag and was ready to cross the event horizon of the gate. He very much looked like he needed time in the great outdoors. Young did a mental shrug - his repeated efforts to get Rush to stick to a regular sleeping and eating schedule had always been in vain. Nevertheless, with the help of his magic book, he had managed to get Rush to drink some tea and even share a meal with Camille and him. He wondered if he should make arrangements to be placed on the same foraging detail as his lead scientist but decided against it. 

So far, the man had best responded to his fraternizing efforts when Everett was giving him a wide berth. He’ll probably get an opportunity later in the day to strike up a conversation. New planet, new experiences were good ice breakers for a tete-a-tete. 

\--- 

Young had worked the entire afternoon on medicinal gathering duty side by side with Dr Park and TJ and a few other civilian crew members. 

Lisa was sitting on a tree stump in the meadow, providing good natured banter and encouraging words to the team while neatly organizing the harvest. TJ had given her some small cloth bags to store the different plants in. She could feel her way around the leaves and roots and made sure that some specimens could be preserved for future replanting in the hydroponics lab. Ever since the dome had exploded, they had commissioned a storage room to re-start the lab. It was nothing like the garden it had once been but with the conjoined efforts from the teams on rotation, they had managed to get a pretty good operation going. 

It had been hard to make proper accommodations for Dr Park’s handicap on board. However, Young had been pleasantly surprised to see everybody pitch ideas and use their DIY spirit to make her life more comfortable. As Greer and her were an item, he found himself warming up to her more and more. Chloe and Lisa, with their relationships with military men, had helped bridge the gap between civilians and army on board. The more reluctant members of the bunch (vehement defenders of the mutiny attempt) had slowly come around by seeing the young couples making the best of their life on the ship. 

Young also guessed that Greer and Scott were good poster boys for civilian-military liaisons. He definitely was too rough around the edges, too martial - it made the non-military members of Destiny’s population nervous. A lifetime of service made him poorly suited for nonmilitary life and relationships. 

He wasn’t the only one in his situation though. How many SGC officers in a command position had healthy successful relationships outside of work? To his knowledge, there were none. He didn’t know if that should make him feel better. 

Scott called on the radio

“Col. Young this is Scott”

“Go ahead - what’s your status ?”

“We’ve gathered all potential foodstuff in a 5km radius. Teams are back in the meadow organizing storage and transporting them through the gate. Volker says we have about 2 good hours of sunlight before night falls.” 

“Alright. The medicinal team can wrap up here and join you by nightfall. I’ll be heading back to check on the outbound stocks” 

“Got it Sir. Scott out”

Young turned towards TJ that had been listening to his conversation. 

“You should finish up and get some rest back in the meadow while there’s still daylight”

“Will do. Give your bag to Lisa before you leave. We’ll see you there” 

\--- 

Everett checked on the last bag of produce being sent across the event horizon. Their gathering teams had been quite successful in their endeavor: mushrooms, leafy greens, nuts and a odd type of tuber. They’d have enough to bring variety to their meals for at least a few weeks with proper rationing. 

He was getting ready to meet Greer to get an account of his team’s workday when he noticed Rush in the distance - sitting on the meadow grass - looking pensively at the landscape. He could also make out a delicate line of smoke rising above the scientist’s head. Young couldn’t resist indulging his curiosity and went to investigate. 

\--- 

“Are you … smoking ? How did you even find tobacco? I’ve been asking every single person on the ship and I couldn't get any.” 

“It’s not tobacco” 

“Hmm alright. Then what is it then ? Cause it sure smells like it” 

“Dr Park has been experimenting with alien plants in the hydroponics lab. She managed to grow a strain of anxiety relieving smoking herbs” 

“So alien weed” 

“If you want to call it that.” 

“How am I only learning about this now ?” 

“She only made a small batch before the dome exploded and its garden was burnt to a crisp. She gifted it to me before we went into stasis. So it’s not like there’s an underground alien weed grow op scheme going on” (Rush used air quotes for the words Alien weed)

“You’re telling me you’re trying to get high on 3 year old weed. How’s that working for you?”

“It was going splendidly before you rudely interrupted. Isn’t there something insignificant that you feel the irrepressible urge to micromanage ?”

“Considering I’ve never seen you that chatty in the 5 years I’ve known you, I can't in good conscience give into those urges. I want to stay and witness this truly unique moment” 

“Fantastic” 

“You do know it is customary to pass the joint as the kids call it” 

Rush rolled his eyes in a most dramatic fashion and passed the wooden pipe to Young. 

“Did you whittle a pipe only to smoke Park’s alien weed?” 

“Why else would I need a pipe on Destiny? It's not like we can smoke on board”

“I have to admire the effort” 

Young took a long drag of the pipe and tried not to cough. It has been way too long since he last smoked, his lungs did not agree with this reminder of his past habits. He took a moment to taste the smoke’s aftertaste in his mouth. Not unpleasant. 

“Why were you looking for tobacco by the way ? I’m pretty sure you’re not a smoker” 

“Christmas present. I’m your secret Santa this year”

“What are you talking about? We don’t even celebrate Christmas” 

Young chuckled and took another drag of the pipe before handing it back to Rush. He laid down on the tall yellow grass and wildflowers and let his body relax.

They shared a companionable silence for a while. Young was slowly feeling his restraint and awkwardness fade. That was probably why Rush had been so chatty. The 3 year old “anxiety relieving smoking herbs” were still potent enough to lower inhibitions. 

“Well it’s definitely anxiety relieving. I can’t imagine how potent it would have been right after Dr. Park harvested it” 

Rush hummed back in response. 

“If we had let that run its course, I’m pretty sure we would be knee deep in a drug smuggling operation by now”

“You’re lucky we don’t have an exomycologist or an exobotanist on board. If you think harmless alien weed could become a problem, you would never believe what those people can concoct in a lab” 

Thinking about a crew having unlimited access to potent all-natural alien drugs, Young felt a shiver run down his spine. He suddenly remembered the contents of the planet’s harvest. 

“Well we did find mushrooms today - so if any of them turn out to be magic, I’ll put Park in charge of the clinical trials” 

Rush turned to look Young straight in the eyes lifting a disbelieving eyebrow 

“I’m not messing with you - we did find mushrooms today. At least 3 crates-full were sent back through the gate. Since Park was on my team, I don’t know who checked their viability” 

“You better pray it wasn’t Chloe” 

Young barked out a laugh which was loud and spontaneous enough to startle Rush. Once the scientist got over his initial surprise, Everett noticed a small corner smile barely visible behind the curtain of fine hair surrounding Rush’s sharp features. 

He took a mental picture and enjoyed that they were, simply, having a moment. 


End file.
